Today's selection was inspired by King Jehoshaphat's prayer in 2 Chron. 20:6-12. As Jehoshaphat and other saints of the Bible understood (compare Acts 4:24-30), the best approach to praying about our troubles is to begin with pure praise of God's power, love, and trustworthiness--before we start telling Him how big our problems are. After we remember how big God is, our problems seem a lot smaller.
Lord of the heavens and all on the earth,
Lord God Almighty, Whom none can withstand,
Lord of each life from the moment of birth,
All power and might come at last from Your hand.
Lord, You have promised Your presence within:
Guide and Provider for all of our days,
You Who have promised to keep us from sin,
Strengthen our hearts to burst forth with Your praise.
Fierce are life's battles with want and with pain;
Fiercest of all is my own sinful heart.
You are the Warrior, Your victory is plain--
I a mere servant, obedience my part.
Strengthen our wills, grant us faith to stand strong,
Drive away fear; give us eyes that can see
Your mighty triumph that conquers all wrong;
You in Your love win the victory for me.
Showing posts with label majesty. Show all posts
Showing posts with label majesty. Show all posts
Friday, February 8, 2008
Thursday, February 7, 2008
In You Is My Strength
I have a confession to make. I hate Scripture references.
Before anyone calls the Inquisition, let me quickly add that I do not hate Scripture. What I hate is to be cruising through a Christian book or Bible study, and hit a list of fifty citations consisting solely of book names with chapter and verse numbers--accompanied by the not-always-unspoken demand that I interrupt my reading to pick up a Bible and review each one. Presumably to compensate for the writer's being too lazy to copy them out herself.
I very nearly threw a book out the window last night when, already hurrying to get through the chapter and move on to finish other things by bedtime, I came upon a written exercise instructing me to "Review thoroughly each Scripture cited"--two double-columned pages of them--"and note any instances where God humbled people."
That was the book's subject: Christian humility. And there I was considering my time too valuable to waste on studying it.
Like most human beings, I tend to think of myself as a "good," if not exactly perfect, person--until I remember what the Bible has to say about our natural depravity. "'There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands, no one who seeks God. All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one" (Rom. 3:10-12, NIV). "We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way" (Is. 53:6).
Even aside from our natural propensity to obvious sin, we make fools of ourselves whenever we forget how great God is and how infinitesimal we are. Most of us could benefit quite a bit from taking half an hour daily to review God's attributes and our total inability to measure up on our own.
Even if--especially if!--it interferes with our preferred schedules.
Lord of all Greatness and Source of Grace,
Lord Who alone has the Power to Save,
Quick to respond to the sinner's prayer,
Who helps the tempted all things to bear--
You are Almighty and I am weak:
Give me the courage Your face to seek.
Lord of all Healing and Source of Strength,
In Whom all Wisdom and Justice link,
Gateway to Glory and Path to Peace,
In Whom all sinners can find release--
You are All-Righteous, I evil-stained:
Give me the victory that You have gained.
Lord All-Sufficient, Great King of All,
On Whom the suffering and wounded call,
Faithful and Merciful all in One,
You Whose Plans never can be undone--
You are enduring, my strength will fade:
Give Your own Power to this soul You made.
Lord Ever-Faithful and All-Supreme,
Incomprehensible, Mighty Being,
No power of earth ever conquers You,
Even dark death becomes nothing too--
You are Immortal, I trapped in time:
Give me the patience for Your Design.
Lord of the Present and Days to Come,
Master of Each Age Past and Gone,
Lord All-Deserving of Every Praise,
King Over All, Unsurpassed in Grace--
God All-Sufficient, my faith is small:
But feed it till it grows strong and tall.
Before anyone calls the Inquisition, let me quickly add that I do not hate Scripture. What I hate is to be cruising through a Christian book or Bible study, and hit a list of fifty citations consisting solely of book names with chapter and verse numbers--accompanied by the not-always-unspoken demand that I interrupt my reading to pick up a Bible and review each one. Presumably to compensate for the writer's being too lazy to copy them out herself.
I very nearly threw a book out the window last night when, already hurrying to get through the chapter and move on to finish other things by bedtime, I came upon a written exercise instructing me to "Review thoroughly each Scripture cited"--two double-columned pages of them--"and note any instances where God humbled people."
That was the book's subject: Christian humility. And there I was considering my time too valuable to waste on studying it.
Like most human beings, I tend to think of myself as a "good," if not exactly perfect, person--until I remember what the Bible has to say about our natural depravity. "'There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands, no one who seeks God. All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one" (Rom. 3:10-12, NIV). "We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way" (Is. 53:6).
Even aside from our natural propensity to obvious sin, we make fools of ourselves whenever we forget how great God is and how infinitesimal we are. Most of us could benefit quite a bit from taking half an hour daily to review God's attributes and our total inability to measure up on our own.
Even if--especially if!--it interferes with our preferred schedules.
Lord of all Greatness and Source of Grace,
Lord Who alone has the Power to Save,
Quick to respond to the sinner's prayer,
Who helps the tempted all things to bear--
You are Almighty and I am weak:
Give me the courage Your face to seek.
Lord of all Healing and Source of Strength,
In Whom all Wisdom and Justice link,
Gateway to Glory and Path to Peace,
In Whom all sinners can find release--
You are All-Righteous, I evil-stained:
Give me the victory that You have gained.
Lord All-Sufficient, Great King of All,
On Whom the suffering and wounded call,
Faithful and Merciful all in One,
You Whose Plans never can be undone--
You are enduring, my strength will fade:
Give Your own Power to this soul You made.
Lord Ever-Faithful and All-Supreme,
Incomprehensible, Mighty Being,
No power of earth ever conquers You,
Even dark death becomes nothing too--
You are Immortal, I trapped in time:
Give me the patience for Your Design.
Lord of the Present and Days to Come,
Master of Each Age Past and Gone,
Lord All-Deserving of Every Praise,
King Over All, Unsurpassed in Grace--
God All-Sufficient, my faith is small:
But feed it till it grows strong and tall.
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